Review on 🔍 Andonstar AD407: High-Resolution 3D HDMI Soldering Microscope with 4MP UHD, 7 inch LCD Screen, and USB Video - Ideal for Phone Repairing, SMT, SMD, DIY by Trevor Blazis

After months of agony at not having a better microscope and not being able to make up for the loss of over $600 for one more expensive interchangeable lens/AF camera setup + to justify Barlow lens, I decided to buy this one as it seemed to cover all my needs and some of my desires. Overall, I was impressed with the image quality, but part of me still missed the quality optics and autofocus. Then, thanks to another reviewer (Props RCJad!), I settled on a Xit XT30WAB 30mm 0.43X wide-angle lens ($11.40 at Revain) and it made the AD407 so much better. The XT30WAB lens is a bit wider to see more of the board and its depth of field (DoF) is about 1"/25mm, so there is much less need to refocus the board during operation! Now I can see the board* and* see my tools, tall components, etc. while I work. Now I can tilt the board to inspect it WITHOUT constantly refocusing or moving the board up and down. I would still like autofocus, but with this one DoF I don't really need it most of the time (Andonstar - they have to sell these or similar lenses as their own so customers don't have to find them themselves.) Keep in mind that even with an additional lens the AD407 doesn't come with the price tag of over $600 Microscope with interchangeable lenses, tall/tall tripod and auto focus camera but that's half the price, great benchtop form factor, has a very good built in display and works very well good for all but very large PCBs. Just get a wide angle/macro lens and you will have much more fun. Note. There are also mods where people mount these cameras on mic stands/arms so you can raise them higher or work with large circuit boards (large motherboards, arcade circuit boards, retro computer repair, etc.). However, this requires some rewiring of the LED bulbs.